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Bulletin of the Santayana Society, No. 31 Fall 2013

page 20

Philosophy, Literature, and Dogma:
Santayana and the View
from Somewhere
I do not pretend to place myself at the heart of the universe nor at its origin, nor to
draw its periphery. I would lay siege to the truth, only as animal exploration and fancy
may do so, first from one quarter and then from another, expecting the reality to be
not simpler than my experience of it, but far more extensive and complex. I stand
in philosophy exactly where I stand in daily life; I should not be honest otherwise.1
—Santayana, "Preface," Scepticism and Animal Faith
Viewed from a sufficient distance, all systems of philosophy are seen to be personal,
temperamental, accidental, and premature. They treat partial knowledge as if it were
total knowledge. ... In a word, they are human heresies. ... I can imagine a man
becoming a philosopher without being a heretic. ... It [doing so] lies in confessing
that a system of philosophy is a personal work of art which gives a specious unity to
some chance vista in the cosmic labyrinth. To confess this is to confess a notorious
truth; yet it would be something novel if a philosopher should confess it, and should
substitute the pursuit of sincerity for the pursuit of omniscience.2
—Santayana, "Philosophical Heresy," Obiter Scripta
People live differently from other people. They speak different languages, have
different friends and families, wear different clothes, seek different kinds of
shelter, eat different foods, use different tools, make different music, play
different games, tell different stories, find different things sad and funny, take on
different habits and exhibit different vision and also different blindness, undertake
different inquiries, set forth different assertions and theories, take different things
as obvious and natural, pursue different passions and realize fulfillment in different
loves, suffer different fears and pains, fight different battles, worship different
gods, and imagine different ideals. They also develop and pledge allegiance to
different philosophies. Sometimes these differences appear as an immense resource
and profound wealth, remarkable triumphs of life and will and spirit in different
times and different places. At other times these differences may appear as resilient
roadblocks, parochial barriers to common enterprises, shared community, and a
wider beauty, greater justice and larger truth.
To repeat: People live differently from other people. These differences extend to,
and include, philosophy or, more accurately, philosophies. People hold, defend, and
develop different philosophies. The long history of philosophy makes this evident,
and even a short poll of persons who come across this essay would yield further
evidence. The philosophies of Aristotle, Jesus, Augustine, Hobbes, Zera Yacob,
Spinoza, Mulla Sadra, Kierkegaard, Marx, William James, Santayana, Ayn Rand,
and Derrida: These are different philosophies.
1 George Santayana, Scepticism and Animal Faith (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1923), v-vi.
2 George Santayana, "Philosophical Heresy," Obiter Scripta (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1936), 94, 100.

Philosophy, Literature, and Dogma:
Santayana and the View
from Somewhere
I do not pretend to place myself at the heart of the universe nor at its origin, nor to
draw its periphery. I would lay siege to the truth, only as animal exploration and fancy
may do so, first from one quarter and then from another, expecting the reality to be
not simpler than my experience of it, but far more extensive and complex. I stand
in philosophy exactly where I stand in daily life; I should not be honest otherwise.1
—Santayana, "Preface," Scepticism and Animal Faith
Viewed from a sufficient distance, all systems of philosophy are seen to be personal,
temperamental, accidental, and premature. They treat partial knowledge as if it were
total knowledge. ... In a word, they are human heresies. ... I can imagine a man
becoming a philosopher without being a heretic. ... It [doing so] lies in confessing
that a system of philosophy is a personal work of art which gives a specious unity to
some chance vista in the cosmic labyrinth. To confess this is to confess a notorious
truth; yet it would be something novel if a philosopher should confess it, and should
substitute the pursuit of sincerity for the pursuit of omniscience.2
—Santayana, "Philosophical Heresy," Obiter Scripta
People live differently from other people. They speak different languages, have
different friends and families, wear different clothes, seek different kinds of
shelter, eat different foods, use different tools, make different music, play
different games, tell different stories, find different things sad and funny, take on
different habits and exhibit different vision and also different blindness, undertake
different inquiries, set forth different assertions and theories, take different things
as obvious and natural, pursue different passions and realize fulfillment in different
loves, suffer different fears and pains, fight different battles, worship different
gods, and imagine different ideals. They also develop and pledge allegiance to
different philosophies. Sometimes these differences appear as an immense resource
and profound wealth, remarkable triumphs of life and will and spirit in different
times and different places. At other times these differences may appear as resilient
roadblocks, parochial barriers to common enterprises, shared community, and a
wider beauty, greater justice and larger truth.
To repeat: People live differently from other people. These differences extend to,
and include, philosophy or, more accurately, philosophies. People hold, defend, and
develop different philosophies. The long history of philosophy makes this evident,
and even a short poll of persons who come across this essay would yield further
evidence. The philosophies of Aristotle, Jesus, Augustine, Hobbes, Zera Yacob,
Spinoza, Mulla Sadra, Kierkegaard, Marx, William James, Santayana, Ayn Rand,
and Derrida: These are different philosophies.
1 George Santayana, Scepticism and Animal Faith (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1923), v-vi.
2 George Santayana, "Philosophical Heresy," Obiter Scripta (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1936), 94, 100.